We know Dirk the Mav; now meet Dirk the Dad

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Dallas Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki kisses his 3-year-old daughter Malaika Nowitzki (second from right) as his wife Jessica Olsson (right) and son Max Nowitzki, 1, look on as the family poses for a photo in the dugout during the Dirk Nowitzki's 2016 Heroes Celebrity Baseball Game at Dr Pepper Ballpark on Friday, June 10, 2016, in Frisco, Texas. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News)

Dirk Nowitzki had long wanted children. He thought he would be great with them, being a fun-loving, 7-foot lunk of a kid himself.

Responsible? He'd long been the rock of the Mavericks franchise, fiercely shepherding it an improbable NBA title. He'd even been his country's Olympic flag bearer.

For his own kids and many others, Dirk Nowitzki remains a steady role model

Nowitzki and his wife Jessica weren't prepared, though, for the emotions that hit them on that late July 2013 day when they buckled newborn daughter Malaika into her car seat and drove away from the hospital, as a family, for the first time.

"That was the realest thing, probably ever in my entire life," Nowitzki says. "That's when you know, 'Now this is all you. This is a responsibility for now on, for the rest of your life.' "

It's called parenthood. Nearly three years into their journey, Dirk and Jessica also now have a 15-month-old son, Max.

Having two toddlers ensures perpetual chaos and entertainment, typical of many families, never mind that Nowitzki is North Texas' most beloved athlete, if not person, of the past decade.

Sunday promises to be special for families everywhere, but for Dallas' arguably most famous dad, it's a double occasion.

Happy Father's Day, Dirk.

And happy 38th birthday.

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"As we know, when we get older, birthdays are not that much of a big deal anymore," Nowitzki says. "Obviously, 40 in two years will be big, but until then it'll just be a nice day with family."

Last year, Father's Day was two days after his birthday.

"Wifey got me a mani and a pedi and a massage to relax," he recalls. "And she made breakfast, I think."

So, Jessica, how is Dirk doing at this fatherhood thing?

"He's very funny, dedicated and a bit of a pushover," she says.

That sounds a lot like the Nowitzki whom Mavericks fans have come to know during his 18 seasons here. Though he's the sixth-leading scorer in NBA history and famously competitive, the pushover part is easy to imagine for anyone who has seen Nowitzki around children.

Pudge Rodriguez and Michael Young were Rangers for 13 seasons. Face-of-the-Stars Mike Modano played 16 seasons in Dallas.

Nowitzki has outpaced them all. He's also coming off a season in which he averaged 18.3 points and 6.5 rebounds. He has one year left on his contract, but says he is leaning toward opting out and signing a multiyear deal with the Mavericks.

He marvels that he's been a Dallasite for nearly as long as he lived in his hometown, Wurzburg, Germany.

"It's been an emotional 18 years," he says. "I feel very fortunate to be able to call both places home."

He was 20 years and nine days old when he first visited Dallas, on June 28, 1998, four days after he was picked ninth overall in the NBA draft.

/FILE PHOTO

6-28-98----Dirk Nowitzki, right, takes in a laugh with Mavericks head coach Don Nelson, left, after arriving at DFW Sunday afternoon from Frankfurt, Germany. The first round draft pick for the Mavericks was greeted by fans at the airport and took in a workout Sunday afternoon.

Accompanied by Mavericks coach and general manager Don Nelson, Nowitzki stepped off the plane wearing a blue plaid shirt, a small hoop earring and sporting a '90s Nick Carter middle-part haircut.

He packed a towel for that week's stay in Nelson's home, unsure whether the coach had extras. During his rookie year, he drove a rented Plymouth. For much of that season, he slept catty-corner on a twin bed in his West Village apartment.

Year by year, Dallas watched its adopted, soon-to-be-favorite son mature through stages of stardom and manhood.

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Dallas Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki poses for a portrait during Mavericks media day at American Airlines Center in Dallas on December 13, 2011. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)

He was mop-haired Dirk, bearded Dirk, 2006 NBA finals Dirk and 2007 NBA MVP Dirk. In October 2007, on the cusp of his 10th season and seven months before his 30th birthday, he told The Dallas Morning News that he'd long resolved to not marry before age 30.

"I'm still on track," he said with a laugh that day. "Obviously I don't want to be a 40- or 45-year-old [new] dad, so I'm sure in the next five or six years, something's going to happen."

His prophesy proved as accurate as his jump shot. He was 34 when he married Swede Jessica Olsson on July 20, 2012. A year and four days later, Malaika (pronounced Muh-like-uh) was born.

Mavericks fans rejoiced for the franchise icon, having seen him endure the sting of playoff disappointments and the heartbreak of a 2009 engagement gone bad.

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"I'm glad I had kids later in my career, where I can enjoy it more," Nowitzki says now. "Sometimes I'm like, 'I don't think I could have done this in my 20s, when I was super-intense, when everything was so goal-driven.'

"I still love to compete, but now if I don't sleep my eight hours it's, 'OK, just deal with it.' But in my 20s, I would have been paranoid."

Malaika, notes Dirk with a smile, is all girl. She loves music and dancing and Frozen, but she's also starting to understand basketball. She says "Go Mavs" when she sees her father on TV, and when he kisses her goodbye before heading to American Airlines Center.

"When I come home from a weeklong road trip, I walk in the door with my bag and she comes running," Nowitzki says. "Then the little guy sees her being excited, so he comes stumbling after her.

"It's an amazing feeling. You can't replace that with anything."

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Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) embraces Jessica Olsson after winning Game 6 of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, June 12, 2011. The Mavericks won 105-95 to take the title. Nowitzki is holding the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP trophy which he won. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)

From Dirk to Pappa

Nowitzki is among the elite fraternity of athletes known worldwide by a single name.

Dirk.

At home, he is Pappa.

Pappa means Dad in both Swedish and German, although Germans spell it Papa.

This past season, Malaika went to several home games to watch Pappa, among other attractions.

"She does recognize him on the court and understands what his job is," Jessica says. "I think she was more excited and interested in the mascots, eating popcorn and watching all the action around the game, rather than the game."

Does Malaika notice that 20,000 AAC fans yell loudest for Pappa?

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President Barack Obama is presented with a Dallas Mavericks team basketball jersey from Dirk Nowitzki as he honored the 2011 NBA basketball champions Dallas Mavericks, Monday, Jan., 9, 2012, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

"I don't think she necessarily knows that the fans are cheering for just him at certain instances," Jessica says. "But she understands that there are two teams competing and the fans are cheering for 'our team.'''

Jessica's twin brothers, Martin and Marcus, play professional soccer in Europe. The Nowitzkis often gather around the TV on weekends to watch them play.

"[Malaika] will probably grow up wondering why other friends' dads or uncles don't play sports," Jessica jokes. "But we will explain that when we get there."

The Nowitzki house is trilingual, with the kids learning English, Swedish and German. Dirk says Malaika is bright and has quickly picked up all three languages, though sometimes, he says with a smile, "She's a little all over the shop."

Jessica's father is Swedish; her mother Kenyan. Dirk and Jessica say they want the kids to travel extensively and be exposed to different cultures, environments and foods.

"So they can grow up with an open mind," Jessica says. "And through their experiences and our guidance, they will become their own individuals."

In most countries, Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday in June, but Sweden's Fars dag is on the second Sunday of November and Germany's Vatertag coincides with Ascension Day, the 40th day of Easter.

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Vatertag also is known through much of Germany as Männertag, or Men's Day. By tradition, men stay out all day and night, drinking.

Turning more serious, he says he has seen stories about new-wave parenting, of setting few boundaries and treating children more like friends. That's not the example Nowitzki's parents, Jörg and Helga, set.

"I want to be a firm dad that they have respect for, but also for them to know that there is love there," he says. "I want to find that mixture, like my parents did."

Jessica says Malaika and Max have personality traits of both parents, although Max seems to have more of Pappa's competitive streak.

Dirk says Max usually can be seen holding a ball, often two. Pappa already envisions highly competitive Monopoly games in their future.

"He's already got his own will," Dirk says. "If you take something from him that he's not supposed to have, he walks away a few steps and screams. So he's got a little temper already.

"I'd say boys are a little wilder than girls. Everything he does is with force."

/The Dallas Morning News

Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki celebrates as he runs home to put a point on the board during Dirk Nowitzki's 2016 Heroes Celebrity Baseball Game on Friday, June 10, 2016 at Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, Texas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)

'A good place to be'

Celebrities, whether from sports or entertainment, have varying approaches as to when, and how much, their children are exposed to the limelight.

Two-time reigning NBA MVP Stephen Curry's older daughter, Riley, became a mini-celebrity during last year's playoffs when, at age 2, she sat in her father's lap during postgame news conferences.

Nowitzki has long preferred personal privacy, so it isn't surprising that he and Jessica are extra-protective of their kids.

On June 10, at Frisco's Dr Pepper Ballpark, Jessica and the kids watched from a suite while Dirk, for the fifth year, played in and hosted his Heroes Special Olympics softball and Heroes Celebrity baseball games.

Near the end of the fourth inning of the baseball game, Jessica and the kids slipped into the third-base dugout to share family and sports time with Pappa, an opportunity that NBA games simply don't afford.

For this Father's Day story, Dirk and Jessica permitted, during a few moments of their special gathering, The News to take photos, with a request: Please don't show the kids' faces.

Nowitzki says he cherishes the fact that his NBA career has lasted long enough for Malaika to grasp what he does for a living and to feel part of it.

/Louis DeLuca/Staff Photographer

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) reaches to corral a rebound in the first quarter during the Utah Jazz vs. the Dallas Mavericks NBA basketball game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Wednesday, February 11, 2015. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News)

Nowitzki figures Max is two or three years from that understanding, but he says that won't factor into how much longer he plays.

"It would be sweet, but that's going to be tough," he says. "I would like that, but I doubt that's going to happen. He came to a game this year, too, but it's just too early."

Nowitzki has come a long way since stepping off that plane at DFW International Airport at age 20, with only a high school education, never having lived outside of Germany.

Eighteen years, one championship, a wife and two kids later, a contemplative Nowitzki points out when athletic careers end, "You still have over half your life to live."

Sunday's double occasion reminds that one of his journeys is nearing an end; another barely has begun. All in all, Nowitzki says, it's a very good place to be.